I present to ya’ll two men.
The first man was born and raised in his country. His country was all he had ever known as a way of life; he liked it, sure, but every day he was busy with his life and with his duties in the private sector of that country, and often he didn’t think too much about it.
The second man was born and raised in a different country. For various reasons, he was not happy with his country; he saw the way the government in that country was oppressing people, looked at the amount of work that would have to be done to change, looked at what he was capable of contributing, and decided that either he was likely powerless to do anything about it, or his family was in too much danger while they stayed in the country he was born and raised in. They had heard of the country of the first man, and after much consideration and effort, the man and his family moved away from the country they were born and raised in to the country of the first man, as that one would not have the tyranny of the country they were from.
They did all this knowing that their native language would not be the primary language in the country of the first man, knowing that they would rarely if ever again see any of their family or friends in their native country, knowing that they would have to learn completely new customs and ways of life, and knowing that the immigration standards of this new country were rigorous enough that they may go to a lot of time and effort and end up getting stuck and not going anywhere in the end.
Now, which do you think will work harder, be more humble and gracious of his opportunity, and be a generally better citizen, striving to learn new things about their country and participate in building its government… the first man or the second?
Perhaps the second man and his family may even be from a “shithole” country. Does that mean that the country of the first man should not welcome them in with open arms? Shouldn’t this mean that the first country of the first man would see more people like the second man, as many brave and compassionate people in the second man’s country would want to do what’s right for them and their families and children and escape its tyranny and hopelessness? It seems to me that any country that’s as great as the second man thought of the country of the first man should be eager and excited to see such people join their ranks.
Deep down we are all people, and we are more the same than different regardless of where we happen to be from. Just because one happens to be from a “shithole” country does not mean they are a “shithole” person, just as being from the “land of the free and home of the brave” does not mean that you are not a slave to your fear and a coward.